Taking ‘Neglected’ Out of Neglected Tropical Diseases: The UK Government’s Ascend Programme Accelerating the Sustainable Control and Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (Ascend) is The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) £200m flagship health programme to protect millions of people worldwide from Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). NTDs are a group of infectious diseases that thrive in poor and often rural settings, affecting more than 1 billion of the world’s poorest people. These diseases cause disability, disfigurement, stigma and death. The three-year programme aims to support national governments in sustainably tackling NTDs, with a focus on the control and elimination of five preventable NTDs across 24 countries. Onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness) - a Lymphatic Filariasis (also known as elephantiasis) - parasitic worm infection transmitted by infected blackflies, a parasitic infection spread through the bite of infected causing severe itching, disfiguring skin conditions, and mosquitoes, causing tissue swelling and thickening that visual impairment, including permanent blindness. can lead to permanent disability. Trachoma – a bacterial eye infection spread through Visceral Leishmaniasis (also known as Kala Azar) - personal contact, with repeated infections causing a parasitic infection spread through the bite of infected permanent damage and vision loss. It is the leading sandflies, causing fever, weight loss, enlargement cause of infectious blindness worldwide. of the spleen and liver, and anaemia. Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) - an infection spread by parasitic worms found in freshwater that enter the body and lay eggs, which become trapped in tissues and cause damage. THE COUNTRIES ASCEND WORKS IN: Bangladesh Liberia Benin Malawi Burkina Faso Mozambique Central African Republic Nepal Chad Niger Côte d’Ivoire Nigeria Democratic Republic Sierra Leone of Congo Sudan Ethiopia South Sudan Ghana Tanzania Guinea Uganda Guinea Bissau Zambia Kenya WHY IS ASCEND IMPORTANT? HOW WILL THIS BE ACHIEVED? Ascend is working with governments to: • Mass Drug Administration of treatments (MDAs) delivered in target countries Strengthen health systems -- to ensure sustainable delivery of NTD control and elimination activities • Surgeries provided to prevent cases beyond the programme’s lifetime of blindness due to Trachoma Increase detection of NTD cases • Treatments to reduce morbidity and disability of people with Lymphatic Filariasis Increase treatments to both prevent infection and treat symptoms • Increased early diagnosis and treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis Advocate for greater allocation of governments funds to NTDs Integrate NTDs within universal health care and their Covid-19 response Increase coverage of preventive measures through better collaboration between government departments, including Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) WHAT ASCEND HAS ACHIEVED AT A GLANCE Supported the delivery of over 156 million Designing, building, testing and rolling-out a neglected tropical disease (NTD) treatments monitoring and information system in the countries where it works. for NTDs NTDs built on the widely-used DHIS2.0 software platform. This will enable Ministries of Increased country capacity by supporting the Health to better monitor the NTD situation in their training of over 434,000 people, including countries and plan effective interventions. community volunteers and teachers. Improving supply chains by tracking the Supported ministries with their COVID-19 response, movement of NTD drugs, ensuring visibility reaching more than 115 million people with of the last mile of distribution using a real-time data mass media behaviour change campaigns. platform called NTDeliver. Leveraged a vast network of volunteers and health workers to raise awareness of COVID-19 and conduct ‘track and trace’ within targeted communities across West and Central Africa. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAMME: Harnessing the skills and research of European Value for Money: academia in global NTD control through its • Supporting governments to implement partners, including: national NTD services directly • The NTD Modelling consortium • The cost per treatment can be as low as • The London Centre for NTD Research $0.03 - achieved in both Sudan and Mozambique • Imperial College London Strengthening health systems through: • The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine • Supply chain management • The KIT Royal Tropical Institute • Data systems to improve monitoring • The SCI Foundation and evaluation Supporting countries where elimination • Pioneering new ways of delivery during of a disease is within reach: the pandemic • Eliminating Visceral Leishmaniasis • Supporting the Leave No-One Behind in Bangladesh by 2022 Agenda (LNOB) • Elimination of Visceral Leishmaniasis • Reaching the truly marginalised and remote in Nepal by 2024 communities of the countries it works in .